Chip Resistor Array Discrete Fallback: 3,688 of 5,941 Array Signatures Have No Discrete at the Same TCR, Counted for United States Buyers

The chip resistor array discrete fallback always exists on resistance and tolerance, and usually fails on TCR. We grouped all 10,022 rows of Walsin’s two array exports into 5,941 published signatures. Every one has a discrete at the same resistance and tolerance. Only 2,253 have one at the same element footprint and the same TCR grade.

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Venatech Limited, an authorised Walsin distributor in Hong Kong, parsed all 137 chip resistor export files from Walsin Technology (Walsin) for this post — 234,815 part numbers — and split them into 10,022 array rows and 224,672 discrete rows. The two array files are Thick_Film_Chip_Resistor_Array__1of1.xlsx and Thick_Film_Chip_Resistor_Array_Anti_Sulfuration__1of1.xlsx. Every part number below is real and present in Walsin’s own published catalogue.

If an array position fails, can I fall back to discretes without a tolerance change?

Yes on tolerance. Usually not on TCR. We built a signature for every array row from its resistance, tolerance, element count, element footprint, TCR grade and rated power, which gave 5,941 distinct signatures across 10,022 rows. All 5,941 have a discrete part at the same resistance and the same tolerance. Only 2,253 have one at the same footprint and TCR.

Fallback test, array to discrete	Signatures that pass	Of 5,941	Array rows that fail
Same resistance and tolerance	5,941	100%	0 of 10,022
Same resistance, tolerance and TCR grade	4,770	80.3%	1,918
Same resistance, tolerance and element footprint	5,386	90.7%	1,110
Same resistance, tolerance, footprint and rated power	4,427	74.5%	2,069
Same resistance, tolerance, footprint and TCR grade	2,253	37.9%	6,469

We have not seen this counted anywhere. The headline is comfortable and the detail is not: the value and the tolerance always transfer, and the temperature coefficient transfers on fewer than two signatures in five.

Where does the element count actually live, and how did we recover it?

Not in the Size column on most rows. We read both array files and found Size carries a plain case code with no element count on 9,079 of 10,022 rows, leaving the count readable only from the Series string — 0402*4, Convex Type and similar. That defect is already published on this site; we reproduced the count rather than take it on trust.

The recovery rule we used is one regular expression over Series: take the digits after the asterisk. It resolves on every row. Element counts land as 4 on 6,785 rows, 2 on 2,127 and 8 on 1,110. Element footprints land as 0402 on 4,003 rows, 0603 on 4,521, 0201 on 388 and 0602 on 1,110.

The remaining 943 rows do put an element count in Size — 0602*8, 0201*4 and 0201*2 — which means the column holds two incompatible formats and will not group, sort or join until it is cleaned. The identical 0602*8, Convex series splits 555 rows to Size = 0603(1608) and 555 to Size = 0602*8, the two halves differing only by a trailing N in the part number.

Does a discrete exist at the same resistance, tolerance and TCR as the array?

On 4,770 of 5,941 signatures, yes — if you accept any footprint. Tie the footprint down to the array’s own element size and it collapses to 2,253. We checked all 5,941 against the full 224,672-row discrete set, which is every chip resistor row in Walsin’s export that is not an array, a network or one of the 23 defective attenuator rows.

The reason is structural rather than accidental. Arrays are offered at ≦±200 ppm/°C on 6,971 rows and ≦±300 ppm/°C on 2,344, with only 571 rows at ≦±100 ppm/°C. The discrete shelf at the same small footprints is built the other way round: at 0402 and 0603, ≦±100 ppm/°C and ≦±50 ppm/°C are the grades that are stocked with resistance coverage, and the mid grades are sparse. So the array and the discrete are rarely offered at the same number even when they sit at the same value.

That is a specification change you have to write down, not a like-for-like swap. We will not tell you an array and a discrete are interchangeable. We will show you which field moves.

Which array element footprint has no discrete part anywhere in the catalogue?

602. We counted all 15 case sizes present across the 224,672 discrete rows and 0602 is not one of them, while it is the element footprint of 1,110 array rows — the whole 0602*8, Convex series. Zero of 224,672 discrete chip resistor rows carry a 0602 case code.

Case size in the export	Discrete rows	Array rows using it as element size
0201 (0603)	17,827	388
0402 (1005)	24,059	4,003
0603 (1608)	37,298	4,521
0602	0	1,110

So the eight-element array has no footprint-identical discrete fallback at all. The nearest discrete case code is 0603, which the export writes with a metric pair, 0603(1608), while the 0602 element appears only inside a Series string with no metric pair anywhere in the file. If your United States build has a WA06W position on it and you are planning a discrete contingency, the contingency changes the land pattern, and we hold no document that states the 0602 element dimensions.

When the TCR does not match, is the discrete tighter or looser?

Tighter, every time we could rank it. We grouped all 10,022 array rows by resistance, tolerance, element footprint and TCR, then ranked the TCR grades available among discretes at that same resistance, tolerance and footprint. 3,454 rows find a discrete at the identical grade. 5,359 rows find one only at a tighter grade. Zero rows find only a looser one.

1,108 rows find no discrete at that footprint at all, which is the 0602 problem above. 101 of the 10,022 rows carry a TCR we cannot rank numerically — a signed range such as -300～+500, or a bare dash — and we excluded those from the ranking rather than guess at them.

Tighter is the easy direction commercially and the awkward direction for a qualification file. A reviewer who sees ≦±100 ppm/°C where the approved drawing says ≦±300 ppm/°C still has a deviation to sign, and some approval processes treat any changed parameter as a new part. The fallback is available. It is not free.

What does one 10 kilohm position look like across array and discrete?

Six real array parts at 10 kΩ ±1%, against the discrete that sits closest at the same resistance, tolerance and footprint. We pulled every one of these rows from Walsin’s own export rather than from a selector page.

Walsin array part	Element footprint	TCR	Rated power	Closest discrete at same resistance, tolerance and footprint	Match / mismatch
WA04X1002FTL	0402	≦±200	1/16 W	WR04X1002FTL — 0402, 10 kΩ, ±1%, 1/16 W, ≦±100	Match on resistance, tolerance, footprint, rated power. Mismatch on TCR — discrete is two grades tighter
SA04X1002FTL	0402	≦±300	1/16 W	WR04X1002FTL — 0402, 10 kΩ, ±1%, 1/16 W, ≦±100	Match on resistance, tolerance, footprint, rated power. Mismatch on TCR, and the anti-sulfuration construction has no discrete counterpart in this file
MA04X1002FTL	0402	≦±300	1/16 W	MR04X1002FTL — 0402, 10 kΩ, ±1%, 1/10 W, ≦±100	Match on resistance, tolerance, footprint. Mismatch on TCR and on rated power
WA02F1002FTL	0201	≦±200	1/32 W	WR02X1002FAL — 0201, 10 kΩ, ±1%, 1/20 W, ≦±200	Match on resistance, tolerance, footprint, TCR. Mismatch on rated power — no 0201 discrete at this value is rated 1/32 W
WA06W1002FTL	0602	≦±200	1/16 W	None — 0602 does not appear on any discrete row	Mismatch on footprint. Nearest is SR06X1002FTL at 0603, ≦±100, 1/10 W
WA06W1002FTLN	0602	≦±200	1/16 W	None — 0602 does not appear on any discrete row	Mismatch on footprint, and this row states Size as 0602*8 while the otherwise identical WA06W1002FTL states 0603(1608)

Five part numbers for the same electrical job and not one of them is a clean swap on every field.

What should a United States buyer check before designing an array in?

Four checks, and the first two cost nothing. We hold no array datasheet, so the export is the primary source for every figure above, and we say so rather than imply otherwise. Walsin’s chip resistor export also carries no column anywhere for RoHS status, REACH, lifecycle, lead time, operating temperature or qualification status.

1. Write down the TCR grade you are actually approving, not the one the array family advertises. 2,344 of 10,022 array rows are ≦±300 ppm/°C.
2. Check whether your element footprint exists as a discrete. If the part number starts WA06W, it does not.
3. Cross the whole bill of materials in one pass. Paste up to 500 part numbers or drop your Excel or CSV into the free cross-reference tool, filter by commercial or automotive grade, and read every stated difference rather than a claimed match.
4. Check what is physically in Hong Kong on ready stock before you commit a build slot — a dated snapshot as at 23 September 2026, not a live feed, and chip resistor stock representation is 0.11% of the catalogue.

For the element-count defect in full, see the array size column, and for what else changes when four discretes become one package, array versus discrete. The whole line is on the Walsin chip resistor page.

The short version

The chip resistor array discrete fallback is safe on value and tolerance and fragile on everything else. All 5,941 array signatures we measured have a discrete at the same resistance and tolerance. Only 2,253 have one at the same element footprint and TCR grade — 3,688 do not. 5,359 of 10,022 array rows can only be matched by a tighter discrete and zero by a looser one. The 0602 element footprint used by 1,110 array rows appears on zero of 224,672 discrete rows. We hold no datasheet for either array family, and only 2 of our 28 Walsin datasheets cover chip resistors at all, governing 234,815 of 359,135 part numbers. Qualification stays with you.

Send us the array positions off your United States bill of materials and we will tell you, line by line, whether a discrete exists at the same footprint and the same TCR — and what was physically in Hong Kong on 23 September 2026. If your approval process treats a tighter TCR as a changed part, which of your array positions have you actually got a contingency for?

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Frequently asked questions

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